Pick up action with Alliance

Timmy brings word of some pick up action available Saturday:

Hey Guys.
Alliance is looking for some help for Saturday at 12:00 @ Glencoe...be there at 11:15, 2 - 25 minutes halfs....I've played with these guys before and it is good stuff. Help out and get some playing time.

The Quins have a SuperLeague game against New York Athletic Club at 1 PM, which means there's a chance ex-DARC starting 8-man Luby might get some time, as he has recently.

Sounds like a pleasant way to spend your Saturday.

Let's help out Austin (and..)

As we all know, Austin had to cancel their tournament this year and we were scheduled to play in it. As a result, they are overloaded with tournament t-shirts they couldn't sell. It's a huge expense and they are doing what they can by selling the shirts for $10 a piece (you can't return them). They are in grey, black, white, and blue (or another dark color, he wasn't 100% sure). It would be a great gesture if I could call them and say DARC will take 20+ shirts off their hands. We would have probably bought that many had the tournament taken place. And, we create some goodwill that may pay off at Mudfish. So, call or e-mail me asap and let's get a big order in. And you get a new shirt for your collection.

And.....DUES!

Those of you who haven't paid for last season need to get some money to the club. PayPal, e-mail me, or call me. Let's get this taken care of. You want new uniforms in the fall? The club needs everyone to pay their dues.

Rugby 101

Found a link to this on Denton's site. Taken from one of the rugby games. Not bad for a primer.

Cookie Called It!

Denton's website brings us the news that Bay Area defeated Denton in TRU DIII Finals: 34-7.

From Denton's own reports, as well as the ref's of their semi-final game against the UT Grads, they haven't been playing their best. However, they will still go to Westerns with the undefeated Bay Area.

By all accounts, Bay Area is on top of their game.

Westerns are in Fort Worth in two weeks (April 27-29).

DIII TRU Finals today and tomorrow

The DIII Semifinals are today with Finals tomorrow. Bay Area plays Alamo City, and Denton plays the UT Grads.

I can't make the games, so if any of our readers could post a comment about the game, we'd be most appreciative.

Zee takes lead in NA4 Try Scoring

Zee battles to make the Eagles 15s.

The North America 4, or NA4, is a round robin tournament in which Canada and the US each play two teams to help decide which talent will make up the National side for each country. Canada plays it's East and West teams, the US plays the Falcons and the Hawks.

Zee, already a player on the USA 7s side, is playing for the Falcons, and scored two tries against the Hawks on Saturday, taking the early lead in try scoring. An excerpt from the report:

The Falcons really took charge of the match in the last twenty minutes as their forwards asserted dominance over the Hawks pack allowing Erskine’s vision to create two tries for Takudzwa Ngwenya ‘Zee’. One was from a cleverly crafted cross kick and the other from a neat skip pass to end the game.

That's puts Zee at 2nd in points overall, Flyhalf Erskine edging him out of the top spot with a try of his own and 4 conversions.

This bodes well for his making the US Eagles 15s side and getting to go to the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Congratulations, Zee!

Luby gets some Super League time.

On a related note: former DARC 8-man Brendan Luby got some playing time in a Super League game last weekend, becoming the first player to come through DARC and make it to Super League play. Apparently, he's not a nice cleat stamp in his chest for his trouble. Luby learned how to play rugby with DARC starting just three years ago and took it like a fish to water, which isn't the only thing he can do like a fish. But what goes on tour....

Congratulations, Luby (even if it it was for the Quins).

Great turnout for Plano Alumni Game

Despite the light snow flurries in the morning, we eventually had about 36 Plano High School and Alumni players, as well as a couple of DARC players, for the Annual Easter Plano Alumni game. The high school team showed why their recent win over the Quins was well-deserved, while the alumni reminded themselves, and others, that they've still got some moves.

It was great to see the work that Nick Marketos, Frank Waller, and Jason Swick have put into the Plano-DARC rugby family is beginning to stand the test of time, as well as provide an organization in which rugby can be played from age 10 to 40 and beyond. 11 of DARC's players are now veterans/alums of the Plano High School Program.

Captain Russell Sanders invited all to come out for Summer 7s practices at Jack Carter Park, high school, alum, and DARC alike.

Great turnout at Plano Alumni Game

By the end of the chilly day, we had about 36 players out for Plano High School and the Alumni. And it was good rugby! The high school team showed by their recent win over the Quins youth team was well-deserved, and many alumni showed they still have the ability to play well.

It was a great opportunity for alumni players to reconnect with old teammates and friends, and for everyone to see that the Plano-DARC family is getting some real longevity to it, demonstrating the effectiveness of the program leadership from Nick Marketos, Frank Waller, and Jason Swick. DARC now has 11 Plano Alumni on it, and hopefully more for next season.

DARC captain Russell Sanders invited everyone, high school and alumni, to join us for Summer 7s touch practices every Tuesday and Thursday at Jack Carter Park.

Thanks to everyone who turned out.

Plano Beat the Quins, Alumni Game Saturday!

Plano Defeats Quins: 48 (6,5,1,0) -20 (4,0,0,0)! Congrats, Plano!

Sounds like it got a bit scrappy. Referee Andrew Wilson's writeup:

Excellent first half by both enthisiastic teams demonstrating committment to the tackle and a high level of pass/run skills.

From the commencement of the second half, some players lost the focus for the ball and switched focus to taking out players off the ball.

Consequently playing time was reduced and injuries increased as man management became the Ref`s priority. Nevertheless there was some excellent phases of play in the second half.

Thankyou to the coaches, Mick & George for there support in managing the situation.

The Plano might be a little fired up and ready for the Alumni game tomorrow!

As half our team is Plano Alumni, let's make sure everyone is out there. Be there at Noon! Jack Carter. Weather forecast is cool, partly cloudy with a chance of trys and a tackling front coming in, which means that Saturday is, in fact, a Rugby day!

Plano Alumni Game Saturday

Saturday will be the annual Plano Alumni Rugby Game. Of course, everyone is invited and we'll try to get some extra 7s going, or more if we have more.

Kickoff: 1 PM, Jack Carter Park.
Be there at Noon if you want to play.

It would be great to see some of our older players show up and support the youngsters, and maybe show them a trick or two.

By the way: who has the jerseys?

Remember, Plano will be playing an exhibition match after the Desperadoes game at the American Airlines center on Monday, April 16th. You need to let Nick know by tomorrow whether you plan to attend or not! Click his name to email him. $20/head gets you into the Desperadoes game.

Other TRU Bracket results in

No surprise that Denton advanced over Fort Sill, but 21-0 (3,3,0,0) is a pretty authoritative win. For the only interesting matchup, we got a referee writeup. UT Grads defeated Midland Maddogs: 29 (5,2,0,0) to 22 (4,1,0,0). Sounds like it was a good game.

Andy of the UT Grads reported the result in the comment to my previous post, which I didn't read until just now. I have to concur with him that we have heard a lot of great things about Stan Venable's work as the Men's DIII Secretary this year.

Andy points out that the DIII standings page has been updated now and shows that all DIII teams did end up playing 11 regular season games (I think Victoria folded, or forfeited a game, though I haven't seen anything official on that, only 3rd and 4th hand reports).

Denton vs. UT Grads: They've met once already, Denton 33 (5,4,0,0), UT Grads 8 (1,0,1,0). So, the odds are with the boys from Denton. But sounds like the Grads have some momentum after Midland. Call me biased, because I am, but I'm hoping the Grads pull an upset (because I like upsets. No offense, Ox).

Alamo City and Bay Area: Clear favorite here is Bay Area, who have defeated Alamo City twice this season, most recently on St. Patty's Day 36 (6,3,0,0) to 7 (1,1,0,0).

So far, things are playing out as seeded. Will Cookie's prediction of a Bay Area victory prove correct? Can the Grads or Alamo city upset? We'll find out April 14-15 at Burr Field in Austin. I'm tempted to drive down and watch.

Half of Quarters Results In

From the left side of the bracket:

• Bay Area 29 (5, 2, 0, 0) over McAllen 14 (2, 2, 0, 0)
• Alamo City 34 (6, 2, 0, 0) over Arlington 11 (1, 1, 0, 0)
  

The parenthetical numbers are Tries, Conversions, Penalty Kicks, and Drop Goals, in that order. Scores from The Society for Texas Rugby Referees (who server double duty as, usually, timely score reports - and occasionally as journalists when they write up the games).

Bay Area and Alamo City met earlier this season, with the Boys from the Bay coming out on top: 20 to 7. So, what would that make a strictly hypothetical line on this match: Bay Area +13? Their margins against McAllen was a consistent 15-14 points (15, 15, 14. 14.67 pts to be more precise).

Uh, can we get a math check on aisle 3, sirs? Arlington: 1 try (5) + 1 conversion (2) = 7. 7 != 11 (that's programmer for "not equal"). Check my math, but I am pretty sure that the only way to score 11 points in a rugby match is 1 try (5) + 0 conversions (0) + 2 from Penalties or Drop Goals (3 + 3) = 11.

Can anyone witness or participant to this game clarify?

No word on the other games, yet. I need me some game reporting minions!